Monday, January 22, 2007

Blogging for Choice

I wish I could be clear-cut in my opinion on this issue. But I cannot. Again, there is no black and white with me, only shades of gray.

Personally, for me and me alone, I am against abortion. I wouldn't have one. It's my opinion that if I am mature enough to have sex, I'm mature enough to protect myself and take the consequences if birth control fails.

Professionally, I'm in the business of bringing babies into this world. I'm pretty pro-baby.

But realistically? It must be kept legal. Any one old enough to remember back alley "doctors" knows that making something illegal will not make it go away. It just becomes more dangerous for all involved. And that back alley, illegal doc isn't going to give you options that might make you change your mind.

And we must put more money and effort in to education and prevention. Just say no is not going to work for everyone. Women get pregnant for reasons other than being careless or stupid. They get pregnant because they are in abusive relationships, they are ashamed to admit they are having sex, they are uniformed about services available to them, they think having a baby will solve their unhappy home lives. There are as many reasons as there are women.

In a perfect world, we'd fund and educate abortion out of business. We'd put our collective money where our mouths are and get serious about social services that actually help people instead of crippling them. We would identify at risk kids in their first year of life and begin intervention so they don't grow up to repeat the cycle.

In a perfect world.

Thor sez: Oh, now you've done it. Why don't you just blog about atheism and higher taxes for the rich next?